The American Academy of Pediatrics states that the risks of co-bedding with a newborn, outweighs the benefits, and therefore, a mother should co-sleep (have the newborn at close proximity, but on a separate sleeping surface), and NOT co-bed with their newborn.
While most mothers will choose not to sleep in bed with their newborn, many fall asleep while they are feeding their infant. Further, even if the mother does not unintentionally fall asleep, when she tries to transfer her newborn to a separate surface after feeding, the newborn will awake and start to fuss or cry.
Many mothers still choose to sleep in bed with their newborns (bed sharing or co-bedding). There is research supporting a mother co-bedding with her newborn, stating that the mother is cued in to her newborn's movements, and will awaken if her newborn stirs or moves while in the mother's bed. In fact, most mothers who sleep with their infants will awaken when the infant starts to stir. Also, research has shown that the newborn benefits in many ways being in close proximity to its mother. The problem is that mothers are totally exhausted from waking every few hours to feed their newborn, and thousands of mothers have unintentionally suffocated their newborns by accidentally laying on top of them and obstructing their airway. Even though most mothers awaken and move away from the newborn, they are still suffering from never going in to a deep sleep for months, and the sleep deprivation can lead to anxiety and depression.
In an effort to improve outcomes for mothers and infants, a bassinet designed for a mother's comfort and the baby's safety, and which is relatively simple and cost-effective, is needed.